Nick Acosta at Oahu Ukulele Festival

Cecilio and Kapono was my favorite act at last months ukulele festival but this kid Nick Acosta was by far the most impressive...

Wu: The Story Of The Wu-Tang Clan

As misguided as it was, I confess that one of my first really empowering moments as an Asian American kid came when 36 Chambers dropped in middle school. Just like The Racial Draft I embraced Wu-Tang as they helped me define my own identity within hip hop at that time. C'mon dawg, Wu-Tang and Theo on The Beat? My teenage Asian masculinity had arrived!

Anyway, I just watched Wu: The Story Of The Wu-Tang Clan. Despite the low budget production, I thought the film was satisfying. The archival footage and interviews are classic, especially for a nostalgic Wu fan. My main critique is director Gerald Barclay's decision to put himself in the film, it just wasn't needed.

The Case for Community-Owned Bay Area Sports

"How much longer are we going to take being held hostage by shady, out of touch owners who don’t care about the communities where the teams reside? It’s time to take our teams back. It’s time to talk about municipalization."

The homie Kori Chen teamed up with his friend James Tracy to write a great article titled The Case for Community-Owned Bay Area Sports. Kori loves sports, loves The Town, and is a dedicated community organizer, all of which he exhibits in his article. On top of all that, the brotha gots vision. Hopefully we'll be reading more articles from him in the future.

Netflix Worthy: Facing Ali

Based on the book with the same name, Facing Ali is one of my favorite docs I've seen this year. I might be a little biased since I end up loving most films or books about Ali, but the fact that so much has been done on the legend over the years, makes this film even more impressive. We have heard all the soundbites and seen all the footage before, but it's the personality and vulnerability in the interviews that make this film. I'm convinced there are few things more entertaining than when old boxers talk story.



The use of text and the way the interviews were shot create a style that is both nostalgic and new. Hands down, the best interview in the film is with Leon Spinks. Dude is hilarious! When talking about Ali's politicization and name change he says:
"After Ali changed it from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali, everybody else started turning to Muslim. My name is Cooly Clala Cleely or Hooly Hooly or Walla Walla. I mean what the fuck is that? Well, my name's Leon and there ain't nothing white about that."

If your a fan of Ali I would highly suggest reading Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties and watching When We Were Kings. But you probably have already.

Netflix Worthy: The Two Escobars

ESPN Films' 30 for 30 series is one of my favorite programs on TV. What's even better is that most of the films are available on DVD as soon as they are aired so you can watch them without commercial breaks, the way that they were meant to be seen. I think The Two Escobars is the second best film in the series so far, Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks is still my favorite.



I loved director Jeff Zimbalist's previous film Favela Rising. Co-directed with his brother Michael, Zimbalist brings the same colorful visual style, drum beats, and social critique to the story of Colombian drug king Pablo Escobar and what is known as narco-fútbol. I still don't know what the hell I'm looking at when I watch a soccer game, but as the most popular international sport, especially in the third world, the political back stories of the game are fascinating.

If you don't have netflix you can watch the whole film on youtube.

Alto Arizona!

Rage Against SB 1070

Today the racist Arizona law SB1070 goes into law. Last Friday Rage Against the Machine performed at a benefit concert to raise money for two Arizona organizations fighting SB 1070; Puente, Arizona and The Florence Project. My old college roomie Jeff got me a ticket and needless to say, it was fucking amazing!

Here's an example how Rage front-man Zack de la Rocha was able to tie every song to the blatant racism that is going on in Arizona...


I got a call from Jeff the next day that started with "Dude, my neck is sore".

Free outdoor screening of Timeless feat. live video mix by J.Rocc

I'm organizing another outdoor screening in Little Tokyo next week. This one's for all music lovers...



FREE OUTDOOR SCREENING!
Friday, August 6th 2010, 7-10pm - JACCC Plaza

JACCC Plaza
244 S. San Pedro St.
Little Tokyo, Downtown LA
Map

TIMELESS is a series of three concert films featuring the music of composers/arrangers that have influenced hip-hop in the most profound ways; J DILLA (Suite for Ma Dukes), MULATU ASTATKE, and ARTHUR VEROCAI. J.ROCC of the World Famous Beat Junkies will be mixing all three films live for this special outdoor screening!http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8602776546176291471&postID=4107454026863255897

Dublab will also be screening the best videos from their Vision Version film project.

The following food trucks will be serving up their best:
Lomo Arigato
Mandoline Grill
Tropical Shave Ice

Visit the Facebook event page
For more info please go to: http://www.jaccc.org/movieplaza2.php